White House

The Trump administration has made and is considering several immigration policy changes that could have broad implications for the U.S. scientific research enterprise.

President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposes a 16 percent cut for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a 32 percent cut to the weather and climate agency’s research office. Many of the agency’s programs are targeted for termination.

President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget requests a 23 percent cut for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The proposed cuts fall hardest on NIST’s manufacturing programs, while its primary research account would see a 13 percent decrease.

The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposes to decrease funding for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate by about 1 percent relative to enacted fiscal year 2017 appropriations. Earth Science would see a 9 percent decrease and the cancellation of some missions, while Planetary Science would return almost to the record funding levels it enjoyed in the early 2000s.

President Trump is requesting an 11 percent funding decrease for the National Science Foundation in fiscal year 2018, which would bring its budget to $6.7 billion. Research directorate leaders were provided flexibility in determining how to distribute the cuts, leading to a range of proposals.

President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget requests a 17 percent cut for the Department of Energy Office of Science. Within that, it boosts advanced computing, slashes biological and environmental research nearly in half, and cuts the four other primary research programs by just under 20 percent each.

President Trump’s official fiscal year 2018 budget request, which calls for deep funding cuts to most science agencies and many other non-defense programs, has received a chilly reception in Congress, setting the stage for a possible confrontation in the fall.

Congress has reached a final agreement on a fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill that boosts funding for a few science agencies while holding others steady. The bill stands in stark contrast to a Trump administration proposal that would have imposed deep cuts on federal science to help pay for a defense and border security buildup.

President Trump has asked Congress to impose an $18 billion cut in non-defense spending in its appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2017. According to a leaked document, the White House has suggested that about $3 billion be taken from R&D programs. Several key congressional appropriators have said it is too late in the fiscal year to consider such large cuts.

President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget would cut the Department of Energy’s Office of Science by 17 percent, NASA by about 1 percent, and NIH by 18 percent, while the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy within DOE would be eliminated. The budget outline is silent on NSF and leaves out top-line funding levels for a number of major research agencies and offices.